Michelangelo: Heart
by Therandomer5000
Summary: The final part in the Family Roles series. The brothers are suffering in the aftermath of everything that has happened with Saki and his human experimentation. Michelangelo must bring his family back from the gloom that consumes them, it's time he used his little brother powers for good! R&R xx


**Hey guys! Final part to the series! Hope you guys have enjoyed this so far. I don't know when I'll next be able to post anything as I'll be getting baby rats in a few days and no doubt the little crazies will be a handful! **

**Enjoy xx**

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**Family Roles**

**Part 4**

**Michelangelo: Heart**

Mikey sits in the pit entirely on his own. For the first time in months the lair is completely silent but not the good kind. It's the sad, wounded kind, the exhausted kind. The youngest Hamato sighs, his family have been through a lot and now they were trying to recover from it all.

Shredder had kidnapped humans and mutated them along with almost his entire Foot army into huge, strong grotesque monsters. In the process he had hurt Leonardo, permanently damaging him, hurt all of them when Raphael was forced to rescue them and nearly killed Donnie. Their father was lucky to escape with so few wounds after having to fight his arch nemesis twice.

Michelangelo frowned and thought about what to do. His father was fine, just worried about his sons.

He looked over to Leonardo's room first, his brother's body was still slowly recovering from the lost eye, the near mutation and the terrible beating it had endured. It was recovering too slowly for Leo's taste and Mikey knew his eldest brother was becoming frustrated with himself. Their leader would never recover if he continued to mope and push himself, he was heading down a dangerous road full of pain and resentment. Mikey knew he needed to fix this.

He then looked at the kitchen where he knew Raphael to be in this moment. His brother still felt guilty over everything that had happened when he was angry, Mike knew his big bro still felt intense anger toward the Shredder especially after the incident last month.

Which led him to look over at Donatello's lab. His brother had snuck into Shredder's personal lab and created a cure, something he had believed for so long would forever be out of his reach. He had then saved all those humans before being forced to battle the Shredder for his life. Mikey thanked whoever was up there that his brother had the sense to call him before anything got too serious, if the brothers hadn't arrived… Mike shook his head. His genius brother was also feeling frustrated with himself due to slow healing injuries, shells and plastrons were well known to be a pain to heal. His brother had committed to a month of rest, but that one pesky slash was still painful, but there was no stopping him. He was already back in his lab trying to make more retromutagen for any future problems they may have. He was again neglecting to eat and rest, to take care of himself.

Mikey needed to fix this too.

Leo and Donnie hadn't been eating or resting properly, Raphael would be the easiest to fix.

And so, Mikey pushed himself up onto his feet and headed to the kitchen.

"Hey Raph" He grinned as he plopped himself in one of the seats, his older brother was sitting at the table staring angrily at the wall.

"What do you want Mikey?" He asked clearly trying to keep his anger in check. "I'm not in the mood"

"Aww but you should be! See I have a solo mission today!" Mikey told him with a mischievous glint in his eye, Raph suddenly looks concerned,

"You do remember what happened the last time one of us went topside solo?" He asked, guilt clear on his face.

"Duh" Mikey sighs before smiling again, "My mission takes place right here in the lair!"

Raph rolls his eyes.

"Just go play your video game Mike"

"It's not a video game Raphie!" Mike nods as he stands up. "This house is too quiet. Leo and Donnie are being mean to themselves and it's my job to bring them back!"

Raph blinks before trying to hide his smile.

"Yeah… I haven't seen much of either of them… They could do with a good meal and a good night's rest" Raph nods. "But I don't know how you'll convince them to do that when they're beating themselves up"

"I'm gonna deal with them one by one. Starting with you!" Mikey nods sternly.

"Me?" Raph looks shocked.

"Yes. Raphie you gotta stop beating yourself up! None of this is your fault, you can't always protect us. If you had stood watching Donnie get beat up, then yeah, I would blame you, but you didn't. We arrived in time and everyone is alive, maybe not entirely ok but alive!" Mikey lectures, "You've done your job, just enjoy the victory until the next battle"

Raph is silent for a moment as he mulls over his little brother's words.

"You're smarter than we give you credit for" he smiles, "Ok little brother, go use your powers on Leo and Donnie next"

"I will! You stay nearby and watch a master at work!" Mikey cheers before heading towards Leo's room. Raphael follows but stays out of sight.

Mikey knocks on the door.

"Leo?" He calls.

"Not right now Mikey" Leo's exhausted voice replies.

"No. I really need to talk to you! It's urgent!" Mikey insists, the door opens, and Mikey enters.

The room is dark with only a bedside lamp for light, his older brother is slightly hunched and paler than usual as he stands in the centre of the room.

Mikey immediately drags him to sit on the bed in fear of him collapsing.

"Urgent?" Leo asks as the two sit on the bed. "Is everything ok?"

"No!" Mikey frowns, he watches his eldest brother as he shuffles closer.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately,

"Captain Leo won't take care of himself and the whole crew need him!" Mikey nods sternly, "There's no mutiny or anything but… nobody talks to each other, we've drifted apart after everything that's happened!"

"Pirate jokes. Really?" Leo tries not to smirk but soon turns serious. "We're all just trying to recover, we've been through a lot recently"

"Yeah but that's the thing, _this_ isn't working! Nobody is recovering because you and Donnie haven't eaten or slept properly for ages! Raphie still feels guilty but I've already straightened him out. If we don't start taking care of each other, we'll never heal!" Mikey insists before making his voice gentle. "I'm worried about you Leo… You keep pushing yourself and hurting yourself then getting angry, if you keep going, you'll end up permanently damaging something and hating yourself… I know you think you're being useless but you're not! You're part human Leo, you're not invincible as much as you like to pretend you are"

Leo bows his head; Mikey chooses to continue.

"Please big brother… Just take some time out of being a hero, recover so you can lead us again"

"You're right" Leo sighs, "I've been so hard on myself; I'm just making it worse… It's just so frustrating being so sore and weak all the time… I can't protect any of you like this"

"We don't need protected right now" Mikey smiles. "We're safe and we're gonna stay safe down here until you and Donnie are ready to go topside again"

Leo nods slowly.

"Yeah… you're right, there's no rush. Might as well enjoy the peace while it lasts" the leader pulls his youngest into a hug. "Thank you, Mikey"

They hug for a long moment before pulling away, Leo already looks a lot better.

"Now question is; how are you going to prize Donatello out of his lab?" Leo asked with a gentle smile.

"Easy" Mikey grins, "Watch a master at work!"

The two walk out of the bedroom and Raph joins their side.

"You actually did it" Raph looks impressed.

"I honestly don't know how" Leo chuckles and throws an arm around Raph's shoulders, "He's very persuasive"

"It's a little brother's charm!" Mikey smirks as they head over to the lab. "No one can resist my adorable face!"

"We'll see about that" Leo chuckles with Raphael. "Your hardest opponent is up next"

Mikey looks at the metal door in front of him as Leo and Raph stand out of view, he was worried about how this would go but he knew he had to try.

He knocked hesitantly.

"D-Donnie?" He called; he could hear deep breathing from inside. "You ok in there?"

"I-It's open Mike" Donne calls breathlessly from inside.

Mikey glances at his two eldest brothers in concern before slowly pushing the door open and peaking inside.

"Donnie!" He gasps.

Donatello looks very pale, the bandage around his middle is stained red. The genius is hunched over his desk gripping it desperately, his face pinched in pain and exhaustion.

Mikey immediately runs to his brother's side and helps him into his desk chair.

"What have you done?!" Mikey gapes as he inspects the bandage, Donnie grips it.

"I just stretched a little too far" He explains, "It'll stop bleeding in a sec"

Mikey shakes his head sadly; he looks at the desk to see a canister of retro mutagen.

"You made more?" He asked.

"Yeah… Just need to make three more canisters then we'll have plenty" Donnie nods before frowning. "Hey? What's wrong?"

Mikey shakes his head.

"Mikey? C'mon, tell me what's up?"

"Why can't you just take care of yourself for one second!" Mikey snaps. "Look at you! You've made your wound bleed and I bet this isn't the first time either! You haven't been eating or sleeping properly! What's wrong with you? You know shell wounds take forever to heal and hurt like hell! Why are you prolonging it?"

Donnie looks at his little brother and Mikey is shocked to see tears fill his eyes.

"I don't mean to" He sniffs, "But this cure has to be made what if… what if Shredder mutates one of our friends? What if he tries all this again? Plus, Splinter must be sick of being stuck as a rat down here, we shouldn't force him to stay with us"

Mikey frowns,

"Splinter loves us. I bet if you offer him some retromutagen he would turn it down immediately, we're his family now. Donnie, all these ideas you have in your head are all 'what ifs'! What if Shredder never touches mutagen again? What if our friends live long happy lives! C'mon man, this is a long, sucky road to start heading down" Mikey shakes his head. "It's ok to take a break while your healing, that big brain of yours is probably desperate for one… The whole world's problems don't rest on your shoulders"

"But how long can this peace last?" Donnie asks timidly, "What's the next threat? How long is it until something happens that I can't fix?"

"Donnie! You don't HAVE to fix everything! You're only young! Nobody has all the answers, and no one should!" Mikey chuckles gently. "Your putting way too much pressure on yourself! The peace will last long enough for us to hang out down here until everyone's healthy and when the next threat comes along, we'll work together to defeat it."

Donnie nods silently.

Mikey decides to change his bandage for him.

Once done he hugs his immediate big brother.

"You shouldn't punish yourself like this" He insists, "It's not cool bro! We're all just thankful you're here to sulk!"

Donnie laughs at that.

"Thank you, Mikey" He smirks, "I guess you can be serious when you want to be… Maybe Leo should look out?"

"Nah!" Mikey waves him off, "I'm tired of being serious! Besides, I'm never gonna be captain of this scurvy crew!"

Donnie rolls his eyes.

"Will you ever let up with the pirate jokes?"

"Will Leo ever grow a new eye?"

"No"

"Then no" Mikey grins as Donnie laughs again. He's happy he can make his brothers smile and laugh like that.

Donnie tries to push himself out of his seat but cringes in pain, he huffs and deflates.

"It'll heal" Mikey reminds him, "If you let it"

Mikey grins and disappears behind Donnie,

"Wh-what are you-?" Donnie asks before gripping the arms of the seat as he feels himself being pushed forward, "WAIT! MIKEY!"

But the laugh in his voice only spurs Mikey on.

"WE'RE OUT OF HERE DONNIE!" Mikey cheers and picks up speed, they charge out the door only for Leo and Raph to grab both sides. Halting them immediately.

"There are steps idiot!" Raph scolds before smirking.

"Oh yeah… sorry D!" Mikey blushes as the three brothers help the fourth out of the chair and down the steps.

Mike quickly returns the chair to the lab before hurrying back to see all three brothers sat in the pit, he nods.

Phase 1 complete.

He hurries to Leo's room and drags the mattress along with the duvet and pillow into the pit before repeating the process with the other three beds, the older brothers watch as he makes a cosy nest for them all.

Now, despite what most might say, Mikey is no idiot. He knows these mental wounds won't heal immediately just because he finally confronted his three brothers, and he knows they're not nearly as ok right now as they're pretending to be. A cute face can only do so much. This was a long road the four brothers were on but Mikey was determined to help them all through it and he knew they would help him in return. After all, he's not entirely ok himself.

"Get comfy!" Mikey grins before sprinting to the kitchen.

"Man, where does he get all that energy?" Raph asks as they settle down on their mattresses. "I swear his feet don't ever touch the ground!"

The two other brothers laugh and Mikey speeds back and launches himself into the nest sending pillows flying. The brothers laugh at him again.

"Pizzas are on!" He cheers, "Just gotta wait for them to cook then we get to chow down on some delicious cheesy goodness!"

Leo and Donnie's stomachs growl making Mike and Raph smirk.

"Before" Raph suddenly turns to Mikey, "When you said it was your job to make Leo and Donnie happy again… what did you mean?"

"Duh!" Mikey chuckles. "It's a little brother's duty to make everyone in the house mad at him but also make them smile and laugh! It's what we do best! Besides we have special powers that make big brothers do what we say!"

He wiggles his fingers as the brothers stare.

"You are very good at that it has to be said" Donnie smirks as he pushes Mikey over.

"Yeah… thanks Mike" Leo smiles, "We'd be lost without you"

"You'd be so bored if I wasn't here to light up your lives bros!" Mikey smirks but yelps as Raph hits him in the face with his pillow.

Mikey jumps out of the nest and runs off to the kitchen as his timer beeps.

He comes back with two huge cheese pizzas and two bottles of soda under each arm, on his head he balances four glasses which Raphael is quick to retrieve.

The four brothers eat, drink and talk until their bellies are full. They each begin to feel sleepy but don't want the day to end.

"Think it's time for bed bros" Mikey yawns as he gathers the dishes. "I gotta wash these first"

Mikey is surprised when he sees his brothers follow him into the kitchen, he begins washing the dishes in hot soapy water but soon comes up with an idea.

His brothers are sleepily sitting at the table.

Mikey uses his hands to scoop up some of the suds, spins around and blows them all over the unsuspecting turtles.

They gasp and laugh as they're coated in soap.

"MIKEY!" They yell, Mike just cackles evilly as he wets his hands and flicks the water at them. The brothers laugh and try to dodge the droplets.

He dries the dishes and puts them away; he turns to lead his brothers out of the kitchen, but Raphael grabs him around the waist and hoists him over his shoulder.

"HEY!" He struggles half-heartedly. "LEMME GO RAPHIE! DONNIE! LEO! HELP!"

"Bedtime squirt" Raph shrugs, Leo and Donnie follow behind and pull faces at Mike making him giggle.

Raph dumps Mikey in the nest and they all curl up together. One by one they fall asleep until only Mikey is left awake.

He looks over his brothers and smiles triumphantly, he did a good job today. He cuddles his pillow and snuggles down as his exhaustion from the last few months consumes him.

Unaware of his father watching over them.

Splinter's heart swells with pride. His youngest was a very good caretaker, he was the heart of the family and Splinter couldn't be prouder of how far he had come.

He silently wished his strange family good night before heading to his own bed, he closed his eyes knowing his children were safe for tonight.

He worried what Saki had in store for them all but figured that no matter what it was, they would make it through together.

He and his babies.

The Hamato Family.

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**See you guys soon! Please leave a review to let me know if you liked the series and if you want more series like this in the future! Thanks for reading! xx**


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